Laser patterning skew correction

ABSTRACT

A laser patterning alignment method provides a way to position a target at a working distance in a laser patterning system such that fiducial marks on the target are positioned in view of at least three laser patterning system cameras, and with each laser patterning system camera, to locate a fiducial mark on the target and sending location data of the located fiducial mark to a controller, to determine corrections required to align expected fiducial mark locations with the sent fiducial mark location data, and to adjust the laser patterning system with the determined corrections.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Generally, the field of the present invention is laser patterning. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to correcting fororientation of a workpiece in relation to one or more lasers.

2. Background

Strong demand for smaller and more portable computing devices has led tosubstantial innovation in many corresponding areas, including touchscreens for smartphones and tablet computers. However, the path ofinnovation has not kept pace with manufacturing, particularly in thearea of touch sensor patterning and printed electronics. Existingtechnologies, including photolithography, screen printing, and laserprocessing, suffer from poor takt (cycle) times due in part to thenumber of processing steps required. In addition to costs associatedwith poor cycle time, photolithographic and screen printing techniquesinclude numerous drawbacks, including increased cost associated withexpensive consumables and toxic waste. Conventional laser processingtechniques also suffer from numerous drawbacks, including misalignmentbetween laser system and processing targets. Thus, it is unfortunatethat the current state of the art has yet to produce an efficient andsuperior technique for processing printed electronics and touch sensorson substrates. Accordingly, there remains a need for methods forprocessing substrates without the attendant drawbacks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, a laser patterningalignment method includes steps of positioning a target at a workingdistance in a laser patterning system such that fiducial marks on thetarget are positioned in view of at least three laser patterning systemcameras, locating a fiducial mark on the target with each laserpatterning system camera, and sending location data of the locatedfiducial marks to a controller, determining corrections required toalign expected fiducial mark locations with the sent fiducial marklocation data, and adjusting the laser patterning system with thedetermined corrections.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a laser patterningalignment system includes three or more cameras positioned in relationto a system laser scanning field and each configured to detect fiducialmarks in view thereof, at least one laser scanner configured to scancorresponding laser beams in the system laser scanning field forprocessing a target therein using expected fiducial mark data to definethe system laser scanning field, and a controller configured to receivefrom the three or more cameras detected fiducial mark data andconfigured to adjust the system laser scanning field based on thedetected fiducial mark data such that the at least one laser scanner isconfigured to scan beams according to the adjusted system laser scanningfield.

A method of high-precision laser material processing on a laserpatterning target, including aligning three or more cameras in relationto expected fiducial mark locations that are illuminated by one or morelaser beams scannable in a laser scanning field defined at least in partby the expected fiducial mark locations, loading a first target havingactual fiducial marks thereon such that the actual fiducial marks are inview of the three or more cameras, detecting the actual fiducial marklocations on the first target and sending the detected actual fiducialmark locations to a controller, determining in the controller an affinetransformation laser scanning field correction and applying the affinetransformation laser scanning field correction to the laser scanningfield such that the one or more laser beams are scannable in thecorrected laser scanning field, and processing the first target usingthe corrected laser scanning field.

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages will becomemore apparent from the following detailed description, which proceedswith reference to the accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a method in accordance with an aspect of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method in accordance with another aspect ofthe present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an apparatus in accordance with anotheraspect of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a method in accordance with another aspect ofthe present invention.

FIG. 5A-D are plan views of a target to be laser processed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Laser scanning systems provide one or more beams to a target surface inorder to process one or more materials in the field of view of thescanned beams. Processing can occur with lasers of differentwavelengths, different type (i.e., pulsed or continuous-wave), and withvarious configurable beam, pulse, or movement parameters. Variousmaterials can be processed with lasers, including thin films, such astransparent conductive films, composite structures, as well as morerigid surfaces such as glass and metal. For some applications, laserbeams are scanned with high precision across a target in a complexpattern provided by a pattern file and controller. Such high precisionlaser patterning can replace conventional approaches, such asphotolithography or screen printing, and provide attendant advantages.

In laser scanning systems and methods herein, one or more laser scannerscan be used to scan lasers beams across a global laser field to processa target area. In examples with a plurality of scanners, separate laserfields are stitched together in order to process the target area.Processing areas typically encompass all or a portion of sheets or rollsof material. However, as each new sheet or portion of a roll is queuedup to be processed in relation to the one or more laser beam scannersand associated laser scanning fields, the position of the sheet orportion of a roll may not align with the expected area to be scanned bythe lasers. A mismatch of even a few microns can be unacceptable formany materials processing applications, particularly inprecision-demanding technologies, such as in the manufacturing ofprinted electronics, smartphones, and other electronic gadgets, or wheremultiple processing steps are performed requiring accurate placement inrelation to processing performed in previous or subsequent steps.Providing accuracy in the laser scanning of large fields or with severaladjacent overlapping laser fields presents a challenge, particularly aserrors can compound across scanning fields or where scanning fields arelarge.

In order to align a material target in relation to the scanning fieldsof the one or more lasers, skew correction is applied to align three ormore preexisting fiducial marks on the material target with three marklocations stored in a pattern data file. The misalignment can becaptured by three or more cameras configured to detect for thepreexisting fiducial marks in relation to expected mark location.Instead of performing mechanical operations to adjust the position ofthe material target itself, the alignment is performed throughoperations that correct the shape of the one or more laser scanningfields. A material target can be processed and removed from view of thelaser scanning fields to make room for a new material target, such as aseparate sheet or another portion of an roll advanced to a new position.Since the methods herein for making correction to the laser scanningfields can occur relatively fast, subsequent material targets can beexpediently aligned for the processing thereof.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary method 100 for aligning a laser patterningmaterial target in relation to one or more laser scanning fields. At102, a material target is moved into position for processing and in viewof a plurality of detectors, such as cameras. Fine movements can beapplied to the target prior to detection by the cameras, or inconjunction with detection. At 104, a plurality of fiducial markspredisposed on the target are located or detected by a respectivecamera. At 106, one or more corrections are determined that would causethe position of the actual fiducial marks on the target to align withexpected fiducial mark locations that are stored in a controller. At108, one or more laser scanning fields associated with high precisionlaser sources, such as fiber lasers, are adjusted in the controllerbased on the previously determined corrections.

Thus, even though the material target does not line up with the positionexpected by the controller, the scanning fields can be corrected suchthat scanned beams pattern the target in a corrected fashion. Thecorrections determined in 106 and applied to the fields in 108 can bedone in series or parallel. For example, a correction for translation ofone expected fiducial mark location can be updated in a scanning fielddata file and a correction for rotation of another expected marklocation can be updated in the scanning field data file, or correctionsfor translation and rotation can be performed and the scanning fielddata file can be updated with both corrections. Different correctionscan be applied to the expected fiducial mark locations, includingcorrections for scale, translation, rotation, and shear. By using atleast three fiducial marks on the target, most misalignment of thetarget with respect to stored laser scanning field data can becorrected. For example, with multiple scanning fields that are adjacentor overlapping, a global coordinate system can be used to efficientlyextend corrections to each of the component scanning fields using theaforementioned three fiducials. More than three fiducials may also beused, including fiducials associated with particular component scanningfields.

In laser patterning manufacturing, tolerances in the range of micronscan be required, and methods to provide alignment corrections herein canbe applied to single or multiple-scanning field laser scanning systemsto reduce misalignment and enable such high precision manufacturing. Inorder to provide the detectors in a configuration that supports rapiddetection of fiducial marks on a material target, detectors should bepositioned in locations associated with expected locations of targetmaterial fiducials. In FIG. 2 an exemplary method 200 is shown forproviding detection cameras in position for detecting target to targetvariation in actual fiducial mark location. At 202, a target is clearedfrom a vacuum chuck used to secure the target in position below one ormore laser scanning fields. At 204, expected fiducial mark locations,from location data in a laser patterning system data file, areilluminated using one or more seed lasers associated with thecorresponding laser scanning field. For example, for two adjacent andoverlapping laser scan fields, two fiducial marks can be located on atarget in one of the scanning fields while a third fiducial mark can belocated on the target in the other scanning field. At 206, a live viewof each camera is shown on an engineering graphical user interface. At208, each camera is positioned, for example, with digital encoders, byhand, or other means, such that the laser seed beam illuminations arenear the center of view of the camera. At 210, the locations of eachseed-illuminated fiducial mark are found and recorded for purposes oflogging, comparisons with other location data, or for manipulation oflocation data. For example, the detected location of seed-illuminatedmarks can be recorded as camera coordinate system data and translatedinto laser coordinate system data. At 212, the scanning beams arede-energized or moved away from the view of the cameras.

Referring to FIG. 3, an exemplary embodiment of a laser patterningsystem 300 is shown in accordance with a further aspect of the presentinvention. Laser patterning system 300 includes one or more lasersources 302. Each laser source 302 typically includes a high powercontinuous-wave or pulsed laser source with considerable beam quality(e.g., pulsed sources may be diffraction limited, or have an M² of 2 orless) for enabling highly precise and detailed patterning. Laser source302 includes a laser scanner configured to scan a laser source laserbeam 304 across a laser field 306. Suitable laser scanners include thegalvo-type, though other laser scanners capable of highly accuratescanning can be used. While two laser fields 306 are shown, in someexamples additional laser fields 306 are present and stitched together.For example, four fields can be stitched together and arranged in alinear or square configuration. In another example, nine fields arestitched together in a square configuration. In still another example,six fields are stitched together in a three by two rectangularconfiguration. It will be appreciated that many different configurationsare possible and fully within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of fiducial marks 308 and cameras 310are shown, including three fiducial marks 308 a, 308 b, 308 c that inview of three corresponding cameras 310 a, 310 b, 310 c, with eachcamera 310 having a camera field of view 312. The fiducial marks 308 aredisposed on a laser patterning target 314, which can be a roll offlexible material that includes a transparent conductive film thereon.However, any other suitable material may be used as a processing target,such as targets requiring high precision or intricate patterns. For rollprocessing, the target is typically advanced in a particular direction316. In other examples, a sheet of material can be patterned instead andadvanced into position in view of the laser scanning fields howeverconvenient. The target 314 is positioned on a support member 318 whichcan include a vacuum chuck to secure the target 314 in position forprocessing. In some system examples, the target 314 can be translated bysmall increments in order to bring it in view of the cameras 308 andlaser scanning fields 306.

Additional fiducial marks 308 are disposed on the roll target 314 thatcorrespond to a previously processed or subsequent portion to beprocessed of the roll. The three marks 308 a, 308 b, 308 c are arrangedwith two marks 308 a, 308 b towards a rear portion of the laser scanningfields (i.e., in the field 306 on the left in FIG. 3) and one mark 308 cnear the front portion (i.e., in the field 306 on the right in FIG. 3).Multiple position arrangements thereof are possible for fiducial markson selected patterning targets 314, including reversing the arrangementin FIG. 3 such that two marks 308 a, 308 b are arranged towards thefront and the third 308 c is arranged at the rear. In some examples,more than three fiducial marks may be present on the patterning target,and more than three corresponding cameras may be configured to view ormonitor respective fiducial marks.

The component lasers 302, cameras 308, and securing components ofsupport member 318 are in communication with a controller 320 situatedin relation to the system 300. The controller 320 can include one ormore controller components configured to operate and scan the lasersacross the laser scanning fields according to laser pattern data,typically stored in one or more laser pattern data files. The controller320 can be configured to apportion scanning data amongst the laserscanning fields 306, if more than one is present, such that asubstantially seamless processing transition occurs in an overlappingscanning field area 322. The cameras 308 are also in communication withthe controller in order to provide the laser scanning fields in accuratealignment with the target 314, as will be discussed in further detailhereinafter.

Before the system 300 is configured for processing multiple targets insequence, each of the one or more laser scanning fields should besituated in suitable alignment with the target 314. For a plurality offields, the alignment with the target should also include alignmentbetween each adjacent laser scanning field. Since the performance ofsuch alignments is time-consuming, they are typically intended to beperformed infrequently instead of for each target that is processed inan assembly line.

For example, the areas of each field or of the larger global fieldextending across the target can be calibrated with respect to the Z-axis(i.e., perpendicular to the target) such that the topographical contourof the target and the focus of the laser away from a center position areaccounted for by the laser scanning controller. Typically, a calibrationtarget is processed using different Z-focus settings at several pointsin each field. The calibration target is visually inspected and the bestor most appropriate values on the target are provided to the controllerfor future processing.

The X and Y shape of each scanning field should also be calibrated inrelation to a target as well. Such calibration can be performed for eachlaser field by processing arrays of patterns and measuring the X,Ylocations of the patterns using a coordinate measuring machine (CMM).The measurements are provided to the laser scanning controller,typically in the form of pairs of ideal and actual X,Y coordinates. Toaccomplish such calibration for multiple fields becomes difficult sinceeach field must be calibrated separately to make corrections to each,and once the target is removed the data for relative rotation and degreeof overlap associated with an adjacent field becomes lost.

Accordingly, for calibration of multiple fields, each field is stitchedtogether with its adjacent fields in order to provide an alignment for aglobal laser field. For example, a calibration material can include halfof an ‘x’ (e.g., a ‘>’) deposited thereon via a first laser field, andthe other half of the ‘x’ (e.g., a ‘<’) deposited thereon via a secondshared adjacent laser field. The two halves images are scanned with theCMM or another camera and the error in distance between the apex of eachhalf is stored and the error in angle between opposite legs forming aline (e.g., the upper arm of the ‘>’ and the lower arm of the ‘<’) isrecorded. The errors are then corrected for one or both of therespective adjacent laser fields by adjusting scanner translation androtation.

Referring to FIG. 4, a flowchart is shown for an exemplary method 400 ofaligning one or more laser patterning fields with fiducials andprocessing an aligned target in a queue of targets, in accordance with afurther aspect of the present invention. Various numbers of fiducialmarks may be used or applied to a target, including in various positionconfigurations, for one or more laser scanning fields. In particularembodiments herein, multiple laser scanning fields are stitched togetherfor covering the processing area of a target, using a set of fiducialmarks associated with the global stitched scanning field area for thetarget.

When there is a new target to be processed, at 402 it is determinedwhether fiducial mark detecting cameras (or other detectors) are to bepositioned in relation to such a target. If the cameras are to bepositioned, at 404 the lasers associated with the one or more laserscanning fields are energized to illuminate the expected location offiducials on the target, stored in the controller, with or without atarget being present. In some examples, a low power laser setting, seedlight, or a coupled aiming laser can be used to illuminate the expectedlocation. In some situations the illuminated locations at low power maynot correspond to the locations illuminated at higher operational powersused in actual target processing. Such error can be predicted orheuristically determined (in x, y, and z directions) and stored oraccessed by the controller such that the error is corrected duringactual processing, including being corrected at different power levelswhere more or less error may be observed. Moreover, the location of theilluminated mark without a target present may not align with theilluminated location of the mark at all laser field locations when thetarget is present, due to the thickness of the target which itself maybe quite thin. A calibration material of similar thickness to the targetmay be used to compensate for this difference.

At 406, the fiducial marks and the camera views are configured toautomatic or manual alignment. In a manual example, an engineeringgraphical user interface is utilized to show the camera view to anoperator. The operator can then manually or remotely move each camera inX,Y directions until each illuminated expected fiducial location isnearly centered in the respective camera. In an automatic example, thelaser controller can reposition the cameras in relation to theilluminated fiducials in order to place the illuminated expectedfiducial location within the camera field of view. After such manual orautomatic camera movements, machine vision is used to determinerespective camera coordinates of each illuminated expected fiduciallocation. Each of the aforementioned camera coordinates is reported tothe laser system controller to use for translating the respective cameracoordinates into global laser field X,Y coordinates. For example, fordifferent batches of targets the cameras can be reoriented to align withthe expected fiducial locations on the different type of target.

If the cameras are already in position for detection of the fiducialmarks of the target to be processed, at 408 a target can be loaded inview of the cameras such that the fiducial marks on the target arealigned with the pre-positioned cameras. The fiducial marks on thetarget are detected by the cameras and it is determined at 410 whetherthe locate process is successful. In situations where the location isnot successful, the target or the cameras can be repositioned in orderto provide alignment between the actual location of fiducial marks onthe target and the view of the cameras. In a successful location of theactual fiducial marks by the detection cameras, at 412 location dataassociated with the actual fiducial marks detected by the cameras aresent to the laser system controller for logging and dynamic laser fieldadjustment with respect to the logged values. In the laser controller at414, adjustments for one or more of scale, shear, translation, androtation are performed on the logged values. Based on the adjustments,the shape of the one or more laser scanning fields is corrected suchthat it aligns more closely with the actual position of the fiducialmarks on the target to be processed. The target can then be processedwith the one or more lasers of the high precision laser system at 416.

In a post-processing step, at 418 a determination of whether to checkfor a post-process skew or misalignment has occurred or accrued. If acheck is to be performed, at 420 the location of the actual post-processfiducial marks are detected by the cameras and the location data is sentto the laser controller and logged. If a skew occurs that is out oftolerance, a flag can be sent to an operator or otherwise logged inassociation with the target that was processed. At 422 the dynamic skewadjustments applied to the laser scanning fields in 414 are removed andthe target is removed from view of the lasers. For example, a vacuumchuck securing the target in place can be released and the roll orconveyor can be advanced. The process can begin again for the nexttarget and the laser field can be quickly adjusted by the controllerusing new actual fiducial location detection data for efficient assemblyline processing.

As mentioned hereinbefore, in order to provide dynamic correction to theone or more laser scanning fields, an algorithm can be applied whichcompares the detected actual fiducial mark location data and the storedexpected fiducial mark locations to make the required corrections to thestored mark locations for processing the target. Corrections forrotation, translation, scale, shear, dilation, or other fieldcharacteristics can be implemented with various ordering of operationsor in a single step, and such corrections can be distributed amongst oneor more controller components.

Plan views of an exemplary global laser scanning field 500 are shown inFIG. 5A-D along with one way correction may be applied thereto inaccordance with an aspect of the present invention herein. In FIG. 5A,the laser scanning field 500 includes lower left actual and expectedfiducial mark locations 502 a, 502 e disposed in a corresponding cameradetection area 504, upper left actual and expected fiducial marklocations 506 a, 506 e disposed in a corresponding camera detection area508, and upper right actual and expected fiducial mark locations 510 a,510 e disposed in a corresponding camera detection area 512. Atranslation correction is applied by selecting the two actual fiducialmark locations that are farthest from each other, which are 502 a and510 a in FIG. 5A. Location 510 e can be selected and the set of storedfiducial locations can be translated such that location 510 e iscollocated or aligned with actual fiducial location 510 a, as can beseen in FIG. 5B with the former expected locations being shown in dashedformat therein.

In FIG. 5C, a rotation correction is depicted that is applied to thetranslation corrected stored fiducial mark locations. The rotationcorrection is applied about an axis generally perpendicular to thescanning field 500 at the collocated points 510 a, 510 e and the amountof applied rotation is such that the expected fiducial mark location 502e becomes collinear (indicated with reference line 514) with actualfiducial mark location 502 a. Again, former expected fiducial locationsare shown in dashed format. In FIG. 5D a scaling correction is depictedthat is applied to the translation and rotation corrected storedfiducial mark locations. The scaling correction can be applied using theexpected fiducials exhibiting the largest distance between them, such502 e, 510 e and is performed in the X and Y directions, i.e., generallyparallel to the plane of the laser field 500. Again, former expectedfiducial locations from the previous operation are shown in dashedformat. A shear correction can also be applied in opposite directions oneither side of the reference line 514 in order to collocate 506 e with506 a. The transformation affecting the three expected fiducial marklocations can extend to the remaining points of the global scanningfield, including the stitched together fields if more than one componentlaser scanning field is present, bringing the points thereof inalignment with the detected actual fiducial locations. The dynamic fieldcorrection can be applied through software very quickly such that theprocessing time for targets is not significantly affected thereby.

Other corrective transformations can be applied to the stored expectedfiducial location data. Generally, transformations can be applied byperforming matrix calculations. For example, a two-dimensional matrixaffine transformation can be applied to the three stored expectedfiducial locations using matrix multiplication. The top two rows of a3×3 matrix includes a 2×2 two-dimensional transformation matrix withvalues M00, M01, M10, and M11, and a 2×1 translation matrix with valuesX and Y, representing accumulated rotation, scaling, shear, andtranslation corrections. The matrix is then multiplied by each storedexpected fiducial location point to produce a transformed expectedfiducial location point that better aligns with the detected actualfiducial locations.

The material target can then be laser processed with the one or morelaser beams across the dynamically adjusted one or more laser fields.Once the material processing is complete, a check for change in skew canbe performed using the detection cameras and stored data, which canassist in verifying the accuracy of the laser process on the justprocessed target. Some predictable skew can occur depending on the typelaser pattern applied, the characteristics of the material processed,the laser parameters used, and other characteristics of the system, suchas the method used for securing the target during material processing.Thus, post-process fiducial mark location error can be detected and adetermination can be made whether such error is within a specifiedtolerance.

It is thought that the present invention and many of the attendantadvantages thereof will be understood from the foregoing description andit will be apparent that various changes may be made in the partsthereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention orsacrificing all of its material advantages, the forms hereinbeforedescribed being merely exemplary embodiments thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A laser patterning alignment system, comprising:three or more cameras positioned in relation to a system laser scanningfield and each configured to detect movable fiducial marks in viewthereof; a plurality of separately disposed laser scanners configured toscan respective laser beams in the system laser scanning field forprocessing a target therein using expected fiducial mark data to definethe system laser scanning field; and a controller configured to receivefrom the three or more cameras detected fiducial mark data correspondingto positions of the movable fiducial marks and configured to adjust thesystem laser scanning field based on the detected fiducial mark data toprovide updated expected fiducial mark data stored in the controllersuch that the laser scanners are configured to scan the respective laserbeams according to the adjusted system laser scanning field; whereineach of the laser scanners provides component laser scanning coverage ofa component laser field, with each component laser field overlapping oneor more adjacent component laser fields and forming the system laserscanning field, wherein updates to the expected fiducial mark datacorrespond to corrections extending to each of the separate componentlaser fields.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller appliescorrections to the expected fiducial mark data for scale, translation,rotation, and shear of the target based on the detected positions of themovable fiducial marks.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the three ormore cameras are operable to detect fiducial marks at different workingdistances in the system laser scanning field.
 4. The system of claim 1,wherein the laser scanning field uses a global coordinate system.
 5. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the system laser scanning field adjustmentcorrects the translation of the system laser scanning field by applyinga translation correction based on a position difference between (i) afirst expected fiducial mark of at least two expected fiducial marks ofthe expected fiducial mark data having a largest separation distance and(ii) the detected fiducial mark proximate the first expected fiducialmark; wherein the system laser scanning field adjustment corrects therotation of the system laser scanning field by applying a rotationcorrection about an axis such that a second expected fiducial mark ofthe at least two expected fiducial marks becomes collinear along a linewith the translation corrected first expected fiducial mark and thedetected fiducial mark proximate the second expected fiducial mark. 6.The system of claim 5, wherein the system laser scanning fieldadjustment corrects the scale of the system laser scanning field byapplying a scaling correction to the distance between the translationcorrected and rotation corrected first and second expected fiducialmarks; wherein the system laser scanning field adjustment corrects theshear of the system laser scanning field by applying a shear correctionin opposite directions from the line so as to remove a positiondifference between a third expected fiducial mark location and thedetected fiducial mark proximate the third expected fiducial marklocation.
 7. A laser patterning alignment system, comprising: three ormore cameras positioned in relation to a system laser scanning field andeach configured to detect fiducial marks in view thereof; at least onelaser scanner configured to scan at least one corresponding laser beamin the system laser scanning field for processing a target therein usingexpected fiducial mark data to define the system laser scanning field;and a controller configured to receive from the three or more camerasdetected fiducial mark data and configured to adjust a shape of thesystem laser scanning field based on the detected fiducial mark datasuch that the at least one laser scanner is configured to scan the atleast one corresponding laser beam according to the adjusted systemlaser scanning field.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the adjustmentto the shape of the system laser scanning field by the controller is ascale, translation, rotation, and shear adjustment of the shape of thesystem laser scanning field through corrections to the expected fiducialmark data based on positions of the detected fiducial marks.
 9. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein the adjustment to the shape of the systemlaser scanning field includes a 2-D affine transformation.
 10. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein the three or more cameras are configured todetect an illumination associated with the at least one correspondinglaser beam proximate the respective fiducial marks.
 11. The system ofclaim 7, wherein said at least one laser scanner includes a plurality ofseparately disposed laser scanners, each providing component laserscanning coverage of a component laser scanning field, with eachcomponent laser scanning field overlapping one or more adjacentcomponent laser scanning fields and forming the system laser scanningfield.
 12. The system of claim 7, wherein the system laser scanningfield shape adjustment corrects the translation of the system laserscanning field by applying a translation correction based on a positiondifference between (i) a first expected fiducial mark of at least twoexpected fiducial marks of the expected fiducial mark data having alargest separation distance and (ii) the detected fiducial markproximate the first expected fiducial mark.
 13. A laser patterningalignment system, comprising: three or more cameras positioned inrelation to a system laser scanning field and each configured to detectfiducial marks in view thereof; at least one laser scanner configured toscan at least one corresponding laser beam in the system laser scanningfield for processing a target therein using expected fiducial mark datato define the system laser scanning field; and a controller configuredto receive from the three or more cameras detected fiducial mark dataand configured to adjust the system laser scanning field based on thedetected fiducial mark data such that the at least one laser scanner isconfigured to scan beams according to the adjusted system laser scanningfield; wherein the system laser scanning field adjustment includescontroller applied corrections to the expected fiducial mark data forscale, translation, rotation, and shear of the target based on thedetected fiducial mark data.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein thesystem laser scanning field adjustment corrects the translation of thesystem laser scanning field by applying a translation correction basedon a position difference between (i) a first expected fiducial mark ofat least two expected fiducial marks of the expected fiducial mark datahaving a largest separation distance and (ii) the detected fiducial markproximate the first expected fiducial mark.
 15. The system of claim 14,wherein the system laser scanning field adjustment corrects the rotationof the system laser scanning field by applying a rotation correctionabout an axis such that a second expected fiducial mark of the at leasttwo expected fiducial marks becomes collinear along a line with thetranslation corrected first expected fiducial mark and the detectedfiducial mark proximate the second expected fiducial mark.
 16. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the system laser scanning field adjustmentcorrects the scale of the system laser scanning field by applying ascaling correction to the distance between the translation corrected androtation corrected first and second expected fiducial marks.
 17. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the system laser scanning field adjustmentcorrects the shear of the system laser scanning field by applying ashear correction in opposite directions from the line so as to remove aposition difference between a third expected fiducial mark location andthe detected fiducial mark proximate the third expected fiducial marklocation.
 18. The system of claim 13, wherein the system laser scanningfield adjustment includes a 2-D affine transformation.
 19. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the three or more cameras are configured to detect anillumination associated with the at least one corresponding laser beamproximate the respective fiducial marks.
 20. The system of claim 13,wherein the system laser scanning field comprises a plurality ofadjacent and overlapping laser scanning subfields, said at least onelaser scanner comprising a plurality of separately disposed laserscanners respectively providing laser scanning coverage acrossrespective ones of the laser scanning subfields.